Thursday, October 11, 2012

Another successful US Open ended this past weekend in Minneapolis, and there are a few more results worth mentioning, specifically the open division winners. Over the last decade, the US Open open division winners has typically been a non-American (always on the men's side and usually on the women's side) and 2012 was no exception to that, as this year the Open division winners were Carlos Keller Vargas of Bolivia and Veronica Sotomayor of Ecuador.

Keller Vargas, the current IRF World Junior Champion, beat Marco Rojas in the final, 15-4, 15-12. In the semi-finals, Keller Vargas defeated Alejandro Herrera, 15-14, 15-8 on one side, while Rojas ousted Sebastian Franco on the other, 15-12, 15-2.

The Men's Open doubles title went to Polo Gutierrez and Alejandro Landa, who were winners over Jansen Allen and Jake Bredenbeck, 15-10, 12-15, 11-3. Gutierrez and Landa beat Aaron Granberg and John Goth in one semi-final, 15-14, 15-9, while Allen and Bredenbeck beat Mike Orr and Shawn Royster in the other, 15-10, 15-4.

The Women's Open doubles division was a round robin with the deciding match being between Aimee Ruiz and Janel Tisinger and Jennifer Saunders and Keely Franks. They went to a tie-breaker before Ruiz and Tisinger emerged victorious, winning 15-13, 6-15, 11-4. Jackie Paraiso and Hailey Miller came third.

24

Paola Longoria's US Open victory was the 24th pro title of her career, and places her only one behind Rhonda Rajsich in career titles. Longoria's 5th on The Racquetball Blog's all time career women's pro winners (a list which may be incomplete for some years in the 1990s).

We have Lynn Adams with 45 career wins followed by Michelle Gould on 41, Cheryl Gudinas on 39 and Rajsich on 25.

It seems likely that Longoria will move past Rajsich by the end of the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season, if not by the end of the calendar year, as there are four LPRT events before Christmas.

They are the Albierto Mexicano de Racquetas tournament in Toluca, Mexico from November 2-4, the Puget Sound Challenge in Seattle from November 16-18, the World Professional Racquetball Championships in Cali, Colombia from November 30-December 2 and finally the Christmas Classic in Arlington, Virginia from December 7-9.